Identify and Eliminate SLANG

Formal vs Informal Word Choice

SLANG is something you will want to look for--and eliminate--during your REVISION process.

SLANG is the relaxed, informal speech of those in subgroups (teens, bikers, surfers, military) when around people they know and feel comfortable with from day-to-day.  Often, SLANG is unclear to those outside of the subgroup, yet with some thought, an outsider might come to understand the general meaning.

SLANG is sometimes referred to as colloquialism, and while they overlap, they are not technically the same.  Just like SLANG, colloquialism is informal and used verbally, but these words or phrases are not limited to a subgroup.  These terms are often geographically-based (soda vs pop) and they are acceptable in general public speech, understood, and often spoken by everyone in an area (what's up meaning what are you doing right now).

My kids' seem to create new SLANG every week, my niece has new definitions for words that I haven't ever heard of, and my daddy, a biker, approached me a few years ago with the strangest 'term' I ever heard come out of his mouth (not to be repeated in mixed company).  However, if you meet a new person at work, or you shake hands with someone during church who is sitting in the next pew, you (typically) curb your language, and eliminate the glaring SLANG from your speech.  While there is a certain level of verbal, colloquial terminology that is acceptable from state-to-state, SLANG alienates outsiders and is not acceptable for those outside the subgroup.

How do I Find SLANG in My Writing?

To find SLANG in your writing, the first thing you need to do is read your writing aloud.  I know; I know.  You have heard this from every single English instructor that you have ever had: "Read your paper aloud, and you will be able to catch more of the errors" (Imaginary English Instructor).  It is the truth, especially if you are willing to focus, read slowly, and imagine you are reading your writing to the most important person you can think of.

SLANG is Right Here!

Have I been writing, using slang?  (Not in my examples, but in my actual writing.)  Has my dialogue seemed interpersonal, informal, and light?  These are markers to look for when you begin your search for SLANG in your own writing.  On the other hand, you do not want to write as if you think you are above your reader, aloof, only serving up $5-words, and trading every 'average' term for an alternative that you just learned from within the dusty pages of the 6-inch-thick thesaurus that has been sitting on your bookshelf for 3 years.

Look back at the paragraphs I have written.  Can you find a handful (or two) of words that should be traded out for more formal speech?  Even though this is not a formal writing, and it is perfectly acceptable for my commentary to reflect interpersonal communication, some of the words I used in these 6 paragraphs were worse than others.  Can you find them? Answers at the bottom of this page.

The Writing Studio at the University of South Florida has created an article, "Trying to Avoid Colloquial Language and Slang," that may help you begin a list of SLANG terms to keep by your computer so that you can easily review your assignments for these culprits when they grace your pages.

As Karen Langbehn writes, "if you’re interested in seeing what is considered “slang,” or colloquial language, check out some of these sites:

• Common American Slang Terms
• American Slang
• Historical Dictionary of American Slang" ("Trying to Avoid Colloquial Language and Slang").

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See the chart below for words from my 6 paragraphs that needed to be revised from SLANG to formal, academic-style writing.

Answers from SLANG Lesson Above